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Paragraph on Life and Beliefs in Victoria Society

Discuss what “The Man with the Twisted Lip” and “The Speckled Band” Reveal about Life and Beliefs in Victoria Society In the Victorian Times the Victorian’s believed that the ideal man had a lot of standards to meet. They had to be Polite, Brave, Reliable and Intelligent. Sherlock Holmes met all of the standards. He was the Ideal Victorian Man. Sherlock Holmes was polite whenever a woman entered his office. He would treat them like Royalty, like in The Speckled Band when Miss Stoner enters the room. He puts a chair in front of the fire to warm her up and Miss Stoner cannot afford to pay Sherlock Holmes so he takes her case for free. In The Man with a Twisted he calls Mrs St Clair Madam.

As Sherlock Holmes is the perfect gentlemen he always posh clothes. When he goes out he always wears his jacket and hat. He is very brave too. In The Speckled Band he knows the case may be dangerous so he offers to let Watson stay behind to be safe. He is very strong because in The Speckled Band when Dr Roylet charges into his office and bends his fire poker Sherlock Holmes walks over and bends it back again. He is also strong morally. He never lost his temper like when Dr Roylet was in his office threatening him. He was so calm he made a couple of jokes towards Dr Roylet.

Sherlock Holmes was always protective of the innocent, such as Helen Stoner and Mrs St Clair. Sherlock Holmes was very reliable because when Helen Stoner asked him to find out what happened to her sister she could rely on him to find out what had happened. Sherlock was also very dependable because in The Speckled Band Miss Stoner was told to flash a light out of her window and he would come up to the house and help her.

In many of his stories Sherlock Holmes was always very well prepared because in The Speckled Band when he heads up to Miss Stoner’s house he takes his gun and cane with him because he knows it will be very dangerous. He was also intelligent because he was able to solve crimes instantly like in The Twisted Lip he works out that Mrs St Clair was actually Hugh Boone. He has a lot of knowledge because in The Speckled Band he could tell that the Speckled Band was a snake. In The Speckled Band he shows that he is very observant by how he noticed all little clues about the case, like the fake bell pull and the bolted bed.

Sherlock Holmes was never afraid of any of his villains. He would always confront them and when he did he knew how to treat them, like in The Twisted Lip when he confronts Hugh Boone he knows he has not done anything wrong so he is willing to give him another chance but he treats Dr Roylet very differently. Dr Roylet was a murderer so he did not show him any mercy. When he puts the snake back through the vent he probably knew that it would kill Dr Roylet. Dr Roylet and Hugh Boone were both villains but they were both very different to each other. Hugh Boone never meant to hurt anybody but Dr Roylet planned to kill both his step-daughters.

In contrast to Sherlock Holmes the villains were hated by the Victorians, they despised villains; they were the complete opposite, an ideal gentleman. In The Speckled Band Dr Roylet was the villain that the Victorians hated. He was very aggressive, impolite and very rude, especially to ladies. That was the complete opposite to Sherlock Holmes. He was aggressive because the way he threw the butler over the wall. Dr Roylet threatened Sherlock Holmes, he bent his poker and he mistreated his daughters.

He never had visitors because no one liked him. When he was in India he killed a butler. He was always unkind to his servants so they did not want to work for him. He owned a Cheetah and a Baboon and he had Gypsies on his land. That is why the Victorians hated people like Dr Roylet. He did not treat his property the way other Victorians expected him to. Parts of his house were falling down due to his lack of care. He did not dress like other Victorians; he went around wearing farmer type clothes instead of suits and top hats. Letting Gypsies hang around your land was very low in Victorian times. Dr Roylet had everything going for him, he had a medical degree, and he also owned his own practice. He was also very well off. Due to his anger and behaviour he let it all go.

In another of Sherlock Holmes’ stories there was another villain but he was totally different to Dr Roylet. His name was Neville St Clair. He was a real example for a Victorian gentleman; he dressed well, spoke well and behaved well. He was also a very rich man. In the story he had not actually done anything wrong compared with Dr Roylet, he did not kill anyone, all he did was beg. He did this because he was sent to do a report on begging. He found the money was so good compared to his original job so he decided to continue begging.

When Neville St Clair talks to Sherlock Holmes after the case he tells him how sorry he was for doing this to his wife and all the people he hurt by disappearing. He wanted to be given another chance, as he had not really done anything wrong. This shows the Victorians attitude towards people who had gone wrong like Neville St Clair who was really a Victorian gentleman who believed that they should be given another chance unlike real Victorian villains. In many of the Sherlock Holmes stories there were always women playing a main part, like in The Speckled Band and The Twisted Lip. In these stories there were two main women, they were Miss Stoner and Mrs St Clair.